The Justice and Peace Commission has issued a statement calling for several north London boroughs to stop doing business with French waste disposal firm Veolia because of its involvement with illegal settlements in Israel. In a statement the Commission says:

The Justice and Peace Commission has spoken out about injustice for Palestinians on a number of occasions, such as the attack on Gaza, and the attack of the humanitarian flotilla on its way to Gaza, It supports the Palestinian Christian leaders’ Kairos Palestine Document, a statement on the injustice suffered by Palestinians.

One part of that injustice is the illegal appropriation of land by Israelis for settlement, whereby Palestinians are forced off their farms and land to make way for Jewish housing. The settlements have long been declared illegal by the United Nations, under the Fourth Geneva Convention, and by the International Court of Justice.

The Justice and Peace Commission notes that the waste disposal company, Veolia Environmental Services is engaged as a commercial operator in major projects which promote the settlement process and the integration of the settlements with Israel, such as the Jerusalem Light Tramway System, which links East and West Jerusalem to a number of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). They have advertised for employees on a racially discriminatory basis for this transport service. It is, however, currently eligible for contracts worth 3-4 billion pounds over 30 years with the North London Waste Authority, which deals with waste disposal for several North London boroughs.

We believe that this should make us consider seriously whether the North London boroughs affected should enter into a long term contract with a company which is so closely associated with the illegal settlement process in the OPT. Just as many undertook ethical boycotts of banks in the UK because of their underpinning of the apartheid regime, so we should decide on the ethics of dealing with Veolia.